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THE 



CHARITY ''BOOM/' 



BV THE AUTHOR OF ''ME." 



0^ 



''FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY: 
THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY." 



FAIR EDITION. 



"Ukr^k) %.., 



published by the 

Hahnemann Hospital Free Bed Fund Association. 

1880. 



r 






Copyright by 
Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company. 



TO 

THE LADIES OF THE HAHNEMANN HOSPITAL 

FREE BED FUND 

Fair Association. 

EARNEST IN PURPOSE, UNTIRING IN EFFORT, 

AND ABOUNDING IN KINDLY 

MINISTRATIONS. 

GOD AND THE SUFFERING BLESS THEM! 



THE 



CHARITY "BOOM." 



On the door-step — in the white Hght of 
the waning Christmas moon, 

When the wind shrieked round the cor- 
ners and the fires burned low too soon, 

When the pavement creaked the echo of 
the passer's rapid tread, 



8 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 

Footfalls hastening to the welcome by 

the cheerful fireside spread, 
And great frosty tear-drops clustered 

round the almost human eye 
Of the o'erwrought beast of burden, 

while in misty circles high 
Rose the warm breath from each nostril, 

wasting on the chill night air 
E'en as life and heart are wasted by 

the bleak breath of despair ; — 
Crouched a frail form with a basket, 

scarce a woman, more than child. 
And with crusts from out my basement 

strove to sate her hunger wild ; 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 



While above the harsh wind's rattle I 

could catch her bitter moan, 
As she pressed her freezing members 

'gainst the cold unfeeling stone. 
And I watched her death-numbed features 

ghastly in the pale moon ray — 
Ah ! the cold creeps in so surely where 

gaunt Hunger leads the way ! 



But listen ! the lips move : '' Oh God ! 

tell me why 
Thy great loving heart is unmoved by 

my cry ; 



lO THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 

And why was I fashioned thine image 

to bear, 
And tossed on this rough world bereft 

of thy care ? 
Great Father ! my Father ! for I am 

thy child, 
How canst thou be deaf to my anguish 

so wild ? 
I'm starving, Tm friendless, despised and 

forlorn. 
All hope from this poor wretched bosom 

is torn ! 
Can nothing arouse Thee ? the last, the 

last cry ! 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 1 3 



Great Father ! Jehovah ! good Christ, 
let me die ! " 



Bright the coals gleamed on my hearthstone, 

gaily waked the Christmas-cheer ; 
Soft eyes glistened in the gaslight, red 

lips breathed in accents dear, 
And I clasped my hands and muttered : 

"■ Surely, hope, and faith are vain ; 
Heaven and very Hell are parted only 

by a window-pane ! 



14 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 



Is the God-heart less than human, Is 
Omnipotence a jest ? 

Do the faithful feed on falsehood and 
is trust a myth at best ? " 

Then my fettered spirit shuddered at the 
thoughts within me bred, 

As I dared the impious question, stand- 
ing with averted head. 



That night in a vision an angel came, 
And stood by my bedside and breathed 
my name. 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." I5 



Her folded wings on her shoulders were 
crossed, 

And the floating locks from her forehead 
tossed ; 

Her features were lit by a heavenly 
grace, 

But my blood grew chill — 'twas the out- 
cast's face ! 

And I shrank with a mortal's dread 
amaze 

From the piercing search of a spirit's 
gaze. 

O marvel of living, O mystery of Death, 

Immortality born of Life's wasted breath ! 



1 6 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 

'* I am come with a message," she 

sweetly said, 
''From Him whom ye impiously dared to 

upbraid ; 
From the Father in Heaven, that Holiest One 
Before whom your prayers and reproaches 

have come. 

'' ' Remember the poor,' — 'twas your bur- 
den each day 

As round the home altar ye gathered to 
pray ; 

' Remember the poor,' and like incense 
most sweet 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." l7 



Your petition went up to the dear 

mercy-seat ; 
'Remember the poor/ and the Great 

Giver smiled 
To answer the thought of His suppHant 

child, 
And made you his steward commissioned 

to bear 
The proofs of his love to the children 

of Care. 



^Remember the poor, and He gave you 
gold; 



l8 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 

'Remember the poor,' 'twas increased ten- 
fold; 

'Remember the poor^ and He blessed 
your store, 

With his choicest gifts it was teeming 
o'er ; 

'Remember the poor' and the Heavens 
bent low 

To the heart that was touched by an- 
other's woe. 



'' Now in silver, merchandise, gold and 
stocks, 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 1 9 



In bonds, notes and liens under ponder- 
ous locks, 

You're hoarding the treasures and still 
you pray, 

' Gracious Father, remember the poor 
this day ! ' 

Oh, easy of conscience, prospered Chris- 
tian, take care 

Lest you hide in your pocket God's an- 
swer to prayer ! 



In a basement hard by, a mother to- 
night 



(( ^^^,, " 



20 THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 



Is watching and praying and stretching 

her sight, 
As the shadowy figures flit to and fro 
On the sidewalk that edges her window low. 
But she listens in vain for the well-known 

tread, 
Of the delicate girl who went out for 

bread. 
On the hearth-stone the ashes lie cold 

and gray, 
The light in its socket has flickered 

away. 
And the cold creeps under the coverlet 

thin : 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM.'' 23 

Nature struggles with death— but, whose 
is the sin ? 



And greedy reporters jot down for the 

press : 

'' Unclaimed at the Morgue — Verdict- - 

Case of distress." 



Past the rifted cloud and far into the 

blue 

I earnestly gazed as the angel passed 

through. 
2 



24 THE CHARITY ''BOOM.'' 

She shaded my eyes with her kindly 

spread wing 
From the imrevealed glory of Heaven's 

Great King, 
And showed me the treasures laid up 

for me where 
The Saviour my mansion had gone to 

prepare ; 
Some spiritless ghosts of benevolent 

deeds, 
Upon which a chronic self-righteousness 

feeds, 
Some petty subscriptions, some clothes 

out of date, 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 25 

Some coins dropped in church on the 

good deacon's plate, 
Some soul-uttered vows, an occasional 

prayer 
Wrung out by temptation, by sorrow or 

care, 
A few loves unselfish, some aims stripped 

of pride. 
Accepted because of the Jesus who 

died, 
And above them all to my horrified 

sight, 
The crust that was left on my door-step 

that night ! 



26 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 

Now I care not what quibbling parsons 

may say 
Of a genuine Hell in the good old way, 
A most exquisite hell for me it would be, 
That crust e'en in Heaven to eternally 

see. 



Ah ! the finance of Heaven is not brok- 
erage bold, 

Where men deal upon margins and buy 
without gold, 

And upon see-saws live, down or up as 
it may, 



THE CHARITY '* BOOM. 27 

And the gains of a lifetime are lost in 
a day. 

There the dollar is dollar, a dime is a 
dime, 

Payments given at sight and in no case 
on time ; 

With the oddest results it cannot be de- 
nied, 

For whether you multiply, add or di- 
vide. 

You will only find — figure it up as you 
may — 

That passed to your credit you've given 
away. 



28 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 

'' The yearly reports then that publish 

my name 
With laudable numbers attached to the 

same^ 
My genrous subscriptions, m.y offerings y 

and then ? " 



They had their reward — they were seen 

here of men, 
And the angels on duty vouchsafe to 

record 
Only charities done in the name of the 

Lord. 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 29 



We have prated of Charity loudly and 

long, 
Have harangued the public with lecture 

and song, 
We have opened our hearts to Its clam- 
orous call, 
And done our whole duty at banquet 

and ball ; 
We have garnered our thousands with 

Tableaux and Fair, 
And bullded our hospitals high In the 

air, 
We have frescoed their walls and have 

polished their floors, 



30 THE CHARITY '* BOOM. 

Have widened their halls and embellished 

their doors ; 
Great beautiful structures commanding and 

bold, 
But strongly secured with a fastening of 

gold, 
Which mocks at the penniless mendi- 
cant's cry, 
And stifles his plea with an '' if" or a 

*' why ; " 
While free circulation, ten times in a 

score. 
Is checked by red tape if one gets 

through the door. 



)> 



THE CHARITY "BOOM. 3 1 



A minute too old or a fortnight too 

young ; 
The wound of the Hp should be one 

of the tongue ; 
The hump is of muscle, it should be 

of bone ; 
The cough has a nasal, not bronchial 

tone ; 
Acute inflammation affected the larynx. 
This hospital treats only ills of the 

pharynx ; 
'Tis a carpal instead of a tarsal strain ; 

'Tis a ruptured nerve not a varicose 

vein ; 
2* 



32 THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 



That the adipose touches the heart may 
be seen, 

Unfortunate creature, we doctor the 
spleen. 

The left limb is fractured instead of the 
right ; 

You suffer at evening, we treat in day- 
light. 



The lid of your eye, 'twere better the 

ball ; 
The liver at fault, we attend to the 

gall. 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM." TfZ 



'Tis the upper instead of the lower 

face ; 
An ulna instead of a radius case. 
We cancerous affections a specialty 

make, 
This inclines a polypous nature to 

take, — 
Till symptoms are made a distinction so 

fine 
That a vertebra fails to suggest the spine. 
And hence the close sieve of a medical 

view 
Not one in a hundred poor creatures 

get through ; 



34 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 



And like good resolutions, a pitiful 
horde, 

These are laid by at last on a Hospi- 
tal Board. 

And so the great mass of the suffering 
poor 

Only find under ground an infallible 
cure. 



Or if to cold sect regulations take 
heed, 

There is nothing so harsh as an unfeel- 
ing creed, 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 35 

And this rigidly strict diagnostical sight 

Is edipsed by an orthodox stringency quite. 

The hoUest intentions, unfolding, are 
chilled 

By "doctrinal points" into just souls 
instilled ; 

And the poles of the magnet most faith- 
fully tell 

How sectarian tenets good Christians 
repel ; 

Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, High Church, 
and a score. 

Each honestly shouting ''This way is 'the 
door! 



2,6 THE CHARITY " BOOM." 

Till the faith is become an indefinite 

word, 
Dependent alone on the place where 'tis 

heard. 
And though not in letter, in spirit 'tis 

true. 
The food of the Gentile won't nourish 

the Jew, 
Pray, into the Protestant Mission or 

- Home " 
How shall the unsanctified Catholic 

come, 
While the Sisters of Mercy slight mercy 

can feel 



THE CHARITY *' BOOM. Ty"] 

For the heretic sufferer's woe or his 
weal. 

So we writhe and we suffer, and perish 
and die, 

By the Hne and the plummet of Bigot- 
ry's eye. 



More — churches are mortgaged and mis- 
sions in debt, 

Their current expenses reluctantly met, 

While boards of trustees armed with by- 
law and rule, 

The zeal of the ardent effectually cool. 



38 THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 

In the temple of Faith with its far- 
reaching spire, 

Its silver-toned organ and matchless- 
voiced choir, 

Its carpeted aisles and cushion-lined 
pews. 

Its gorgeous stained windows with soft 
blending hues, 

Its velvet-laid altars with trappings of 

gold; 

Where rich-surpliced teachers God's les- 
sons unfold. 

Ye mourn in your broadcloth, your vel- 
vet, your lace, 



39 

The /^V;/-ness which shadows the hoHest 

place, 
Since the Great God looks down and 

discerns in the gloom 
An incumbrance too great for just 

Heaven to assume, 
And while at the chancel your vows 

you record, 
The beggar outside may be nearest the 

Lord. 



But some men are wiser than most men 
believe, 



40 THE CHARITY " BOOM.'* 

And for their short-comings find glorious 

retrieve 
In the full consecration to Jesus they 

make, 
Of what through the grave they are pow- 
erless to take ; 
So magnanimous selfishness ceases to 

breathe, 
Consoled by a generous — ''I give and 

bequeathe — '* 
Thus fervently hoping God's plans to 

o'ermatch 
And forward their treasures by Special 

Dispatch ; 



( T5^r^A/r " 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 4I 

Or chooses a proud in memoriam to 
build 

Of granite or marble to charity willed, 

Which Administrator or Judge perchance 
may 

Decide is no charity since it wont 
pay, 

And the good Book has made it exceed- 
ingly plain, 

Bread cast on the waters is gathered 
again. 

And in that grand spasm philanthropy 
feels 



42 THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 

Producing convulsions of lancers and 

reels, 
When the great hearts of beauty and 

opulence break 
And pour themselves out for sweet 

Charity's sake, 
When tailor and modiste and coiffeur 

combine 

Their arts till the human is almost di- 
vine. 

And arrayed comme il fatit, of one beau- 
tiful belle 

The value in figures is wondrous to 
tell. 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 45 



And into the scale of just estimates thrown 
Her fair market status will quickly be 

shown ; 
Not the lady herself — 'twould be greatly 

unfair 
With plain creature comforts her charms 

to compare — 
But the outfit complete of one genuine belle, 
When rated at par, let the honest weights 

tell. 



The round tout ensemble an Avenue 
store — 



46 THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 

Real Estate at an ebb — would provide, if 

not more. 
The jewel confining her rich golden 

braid 
Would purchase a butcher's entire stock 

in trade. 
The quivering pendant just over her 

heart 
Would set up the very best stand in the 

mart, 
Green grocer or baker, or name what you 

will, 
The weak to refresh or the hungry to 

fill. 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 47 

While just one short yard of her elegant 
lace 

Would get up a dinner deserving a 
grace. 

The dainty trimmed slippers encasing her 
feet, 

At Baldwin's would furnish a pauper com- 
plete. 

The glittering solitaire adorning her 
ear, 

Would pay for a modern-built flat a full 
year ; 

While necklace and mouchoir, and lastly 

the loves 
3 



48 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 

Of bangles and bracelets and ten-button 

gloves, 
Would light up a home lost in darkness 

before, 
And keep the grim wolf from full many 

a door. 



And now to this outlay, most generous 
be sure, 

A ten dollar ticket we add for the 

poor ; 
But with ushers, bill-posters, et caeteras 

and gas. 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 49 

This amount is reduced to a pittance, 

alas ! 
And though the small hours with the 

revel be filled, 
The thousands go empty away from the 

Guild; 
And by this grand farce 'tis most cleverly 

shown 
How both ends of charity center at 

home. 



Now into the scales toss your purses and 
needs. 



50 THE CHARITY " BOOM.' 

Then toss in your duties and toss in your 
deeds, 

Next toss in your faith and against it 
your cares, 

And toss in your good works and lastly 
your prayers ; 

How curious to notice the odds at the 
ends. 

So much on the turn of a pivot de- 
pends. 



O ladies ! sweet ladies ! kind ladies and 
true ! 



THE CHARITY '* BOOM." 51 

Think just for a moment how much you 

can do. 
Would ye light up another face sweet as 

your own. 
And kindle a heart to the joy ye have 

known ; 
Would ye shield from the rude gaze a 

fair faultless form, 
And shelter a soul from the world's cruel 

scorn ? 
Unglove your soft hands, there are tears 

to be dried, 
And pillows to smooth whereon loved 

ones have died ; 



52 THE CHARITY "BOOM. 

And sweet little mouths turning up to be 

fed, 
And child hearts that flutter and watch 

for your tread. 



Oh be of one sad home the angel, the 

light ! 
Your name its sweet watchword at morn 

and at night. 
The spirit on earth of ©UV |atto itt 

Let p^ MWU ht toUmr^rt for joy you 

have given ; 



THE CHARITY "BOOM. 



53 



And by your kind deeds make p^ feinijtlmw 
So best ON this mvtft shall §;i^ sweet 

Win ft^ &mt. 

O be of its table the fresh iMlt) html, 
And over the erring your sweet pnlOU 

shed, 
And guard from t^miJt^ti0tt where want 

is the snare, 
And rescue jfrOtU ml some frail child of 

care ; 
And so BE p,^ ^mtX mux §i$i great ^Ux\j 

shown. 
i^VtVtV and tV(X by one of His own. 



54 THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 

gltU^tt, and then dance in your heartiest 

way, 
For a time is to dance as a time is to 

pray ; 
And 'twill not be surprising, if heeding 

your call, 
The angels come down to the Charity 

Ball. 



But the great Metropolitan spirit is 

kind, 
Though like pictured Justice the oftenest 

blind. 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 57 



And her holiest thoughts and worthiest 



aims 
Are hampered, and clogged by invisible 

claims 
Of pathies and schisms, of parties and 

power, 
Which the rude wheel of Fortune reverses 

each hour. 
So she gathers them up, the sick and 

the poor, 
The lame and the weary, the mad and 

the sore. 
The vile and the hungry, the pauper, the 

thief, 



58 THE CHARITY ** BOOM." 



The children of vice, and the victims of 

grief ; 
So vileness and purity every day ride, 
In ''corrections and charities" thrown side 

by side ; 
And kindly removed from the great city's 

din. 
The cess-pool of misery she huddles them 

in. 



O missions of kind words, of fruits and 
of flowers, 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 59 

Ye were born of a breath from elysian 

bowers. 
O sweet loving faces, O delicate tones, 
Rich echoes are ye from the heavenly 

zones. 
O children of mercy, your beautiful hands 
Are filling life's hour-glass with glittering 

sands, 



Whose luminous atoms are catching the 



rays 

Of beautiful sunlight to measure the 
days. 

The Heart's-ease that fades on yon suf- 
ferer's breast 



6o THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 

Is blooming for you in the Land of the 

Blest ; 
And the whisper of Jesus you breathed 

in his ear, 
Is the song he shall sing in that holier 

sphere. 



We travel life's roadway and little we 

heed 
The God-given power of each thought, 

word and deed. 
The weight of a smile or the charm of a 

tear, 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 6l 



The thrill of a whisper, the chill of a 

fear, 
The tease of a glance, the check of a 

sigh, 
The stab of a jest, and the hurt of an 

eye. 



By the roadway, just there, is a daughter 

of shame, 
A scar on her conscience, a blot on her 

name ; 
We loathing, with horror instinctively 

shrink 



62 THE CHARITY " BOOM." 

From lifting her fainting for only a 

drink ; 
But the great heart of Jesus is moved 

by her plea : 
''/ do not condemn" — Are we purer 

than He ? 



A father, a thief, hotly pressed by the 

law, 
All eager her meshes about him to 

draw ; 
No plea for his crime save the echoes 

which come 



THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 6^ 

From the famishing group in his deso- 
late home. 

But his free thoughts reach out to the 
glad hopes that cling 

Round the great Judgment day of an 
omniscient King, 

TAa^ rarest, that richest, that happiest 
of days 

To the honest with God in his heart 
and his ways. 



A neighbor, a friend in the days that 
have been, 



64 THE CHARITY ''BOOM." 

With heart just as loyal, as earnest as 

then, 
A bankrupt — what more? Ah, the story 

is old : 
Love, friendship and faith even, perish 

with gold. 



A child heart is skipping along in the 

way. 
Unconsciously sporting with shadows that 

play 
Now lengthening, now parting, now 

melting in one 



THE CHARITY ''BOOM. 65 

As summery cloudlets coquette with the 
sun ; 

A waif on the wide world dropped 
down at your feet — 

Oh, the prayer for the fatherless kneel 
and repeat, 

And linger a moment, perchance ye may see 

Whom the Father will send its protec- 
tor to be. 

A foot snare — take heed ! — in the treach- 
erous sand, 

'' I am blind, is there any will give me 
a hand ! " 



66 THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 

I am blind — pity, Lord ! only dead eyes 
can know 

How dark is the road the poor sight- 
less must go. 



Oh, the struggle with poverty, sorrow, 

and sin, 
Is a struggle in which but the bravest 

may win. 
Though the faint heart must strive and 

the faltering go 
Where the battle is hottest and fiercest 

the foe. 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM." 6"] 

O ye stalwart of arm and unflinching 

of nerve, 
Truest heroes are made of the stout 

hearts that serve. 
Pale and dim is the banner protected by 

might, 
To the rent and the crimson brought in 

from the fight. 



The web of God's dealing is wond- 

rously spun 
With chequers and tracery, shadow and 

sun, 



68 THE CHARITY "BOOM." 

And flecked with the atoms of man's 

changeful life, 
Which speckle the fabric with turmoil 

and strife ; 
While spinning and weaving the hum 

of the mill 
And buzz of the spindle may never be 

still, 
For the warp is set taut and the woof 

of each day- 
Is filling the shuttle, whose unceasing 

play 
Waits neither for tangle, for joy, nor 

for fret, 



THE CHARITY *' BOOM." 69 



For prodigal thought nor for useless re- 
gret. 

But the texture is perfect, come sun- 
shine, come gloom, 

With man at the spindle and Christ at 
the loom. 



Oh, pour out your love as God pours 

out the showers. 
And scatter your smiles as He scatters 

the flowers ; 
Be the warm breath of truth like their 

fragrance distilled, 



70 



THE CHARITY '' BOOM. 



Till the darkest heart-corners with joy 

shall be filled ; 
And sprinkle with good deeds life's 

wearisome way, 
And pray while you live, and then live 



as you pray 




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